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Summary: A biopic on the late, great James Brown. Directed by Tate Taylor, the film chronicles Brown’s life as an impoverished child in rural Georgia to legendary superstardom.

Review: Get On Up opens with James Brown in 1988, high on PCP, armed with a rifle and hollering at insurance agents for taking a dump in his private bathroom. It’s an uncomfortable start to the film, which is written by British siblings Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Imagine if What’s Love Got to Do With It opened with Ike Turner punching Tina or if the first frame of Ray was Mr. Charles shooting up heroine. Maybe the objective was to move from dark to light, but considering the oddball first ten minutes, the film had much to redeem. Thank the cinematic gods for Chadwick Boseman. Get On Up is no Malcolm X or Lady Sings the Blues, but the performances and infectious music repairs many of the film’s flaws.

Get On Up is directed by Tate Taylor, the controversial director of The Help. Similar to The Help, which earned Octavia Spencer an Oscar, there is a hard-to-describe absence of feeling and rhythm. Get On Up needed a bit more grit and grime. With the campy one-liners and soft handling of race, you wanted Taylor to dig deeper, go to the gutter of the soul, which is what James Brown effortlessly represented. So you can’t help but wonder how different the film would have been if Spike Lee,who was originally signed on to direct, was at the helm. The blogosphere went mad when Lee was replaced byÂ The Help director, but maybe Tate Taylor has it right. A Spike LeeÂ version of a James Brown biopic might be too much for the public to consume. Taylor plays it safe, which equals box office gold. Personally, though, I love an artistic risk.

Steering clear of the traditional biopic format, the film is not linear. There are constant flashbacks to Brown’s tragic youth. Â However, the flick sometimes gets lost in the flashes, which can be annoying when you are invested in one scene and are suddenly fast-forwarded to a new wig and different characters. Â When the original scene returns, you’ve already checked out. Â In addition, Taylor also relies heavily on talking directly to the camera, which is a device viewers will either love or hate. Â The random monologues into the camera tossed me out of the film, but they might have been necessary for a non-chronological script. Between the erratic narrative and distracting techniques, linear storytelling might have been a better move forÂ Get On Up.

Chadwick Boseman’s performance makes you forgive the obvious hiccups. Though many raised an eyebrow that he would take on playing another historic figure so early in his career, there is no residual of his portrayal of Jackie Robinsonin 42. Boseman avoided a common impersonation of Brown, adding soul, humor and drama. The best scene is with Viola Davis (of course, the most powerful moment would be with the consistently astounding Tony winner), who plays Brown’s mother, meeting James Brown for the first time since she abandoned him. It was one of the few scenes Boseman was able to present a sensitive side of Brown with Davis upping the acting stakes. Â I’ll go on record to say Boseman has the potential to be the next Denzel Washington or Matthew McConaughey,he is a star.

Even with the overwhelming 139-minute running time and many flaws, Get On Up is a hard film not to enjoy. Most importantly, what the director, producers and cast effectively communicated was the resilience of the human soul. Similar to Josephine Baker, Tina Turner and Ray Charles, Brown grew up in the dirt of poverty â€” no running water, no social services, abandoned by family, zero education â€” and managed to become an icon. Brown’s story of survival will make you want to get on up and better your own life.

Summary: A family of sort-of-kind-of witches settle in South Carolina so their teenage girl can transition into “light” or “dark” on her 16th birthday. Â But a boy comes along and the two fall in love, which is a n0-no in witch land. Their fate is at risk because teenage love and witchcraft don’t mix.

Review: Teen love fantasy flicks are all the rage. From Twilight to Hunger Games, these movies pull at the heartstrings of young girls and annoy the eyeballs of everyone else outside of the demographic. That said, the first Twilight and last year’s Hunger Games were somewhat enjoyable. Twilight was an accidentalÂ phenomenon and Hunger Games‘ commentary on media, fame and class was surprisingly interesting. Based on the book by the same name, Beautiful Creatures clearly wants to be the next teen franchise epic, which makes the Richard LaGravenese-directed filmÂ calculated and terribly predictable.

Beautiful Creatures is not the fault of the actors (although the majority of the southern accents areÂ embarrassing) or the cartoon-like special effects, it’s a terrible screenplay that is a toxic mix of Beetlejuice and Mean Girls. From the yawnfest build up to laughable one-liners â€” “Love is a risk for anybody!” â€” even if you lower your standards to teen-dream melodrama (similar to Twilight), Beautiful Creatures is far from spellbinding.

The only saving grace is the female lead, Lena (Alice Englert), is not the powerless damsel in distress like Bella Swan from Twilight. She is not giving up her soul for Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich). The message of independence is a bit more palatable. Unfortunately, the film and the actors’ bland chemistry need movie-making magic to create the next Edward and Bella. Of course fans might balk at the Twilight and Beautiful Creatures comparisons, but it’s impossible to not notice the goal for aÂ cash cow.

Acting giants Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis and Emma Thompson give Beautiful Creatures some thespian creditability. Nonetheless, even this trio of screen perfection can’t save a calculated, snooze-inducingÂ and unoriginal heap of film-making. Don’t be surprised if the film doesn’t resonate with its target demographic.

“Change a school, change a neighborhood” is one of the lines from Viola Davis’ character, Nona Alberts. Alberts is a teacher who once had a passion for the classroom but is now disenchanted with the destructive system. She is inspired by Jamie, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character, whose daughter suffers from dyslexia and is falling behind in a classroom with an unconcerned teacher who cannot be reprimanded because she is a member of the union. The plot line is similar to the phenomenal documentary Waiting for Superman.

The grand diva of the cast is the consistently dynamic Viola Davis. Ms. Davis could play Donald Trump in a film and make it believable. The Tony winner is clearly touched by a higher power; her gift for bringing a character to life is astounding. Right when the film was about to crash and burn into bad Lifetime movie territory, Viola popped up on-screen and saved the cinematic day.

Hats off to the director, Daniel Barnz, for presenting such a diverse film. The story was more about class than race. There wasn’t a stereotypical “white savior” or a downtrodden Black character who sings the blues. Davis’ character was middle class, while Gyllenhaal’s character was living below the poverty line. Very few Hollywood films get diversity right on the big screen, Won’t Back Down did.

Whether you are a teacher, parent or student, Won’t Back Down is a must-see. Regardless of protests, there is an undeniable emotionality in the flick that rises above politics â€” eye-opening, heartwarming and triumphant.

While I wasnâ€™t particularly jazzed about seeing the film, it didnâ€™t really bother me thatThe Help was released in 2011, while we still have our first Black president and first lady in the White House. The movie, regardless of how annoying and trite some of its scenes and dialogue may be, is still a slice of U.S. history. Furthermore, Black women domestics whoâ€™ve worked hard behind the scenes to help establish this country in every corner of America always deserve to have their stories told.

The real problem is that in 2011 there is still no balance in the amount of films starring Black actors released yearly. Most people wouldnâ€™t have a problem with The Help if it we had different African-American images to choose from at our local movie theaters (we still only get one or two movies annually).Â Much of the best, diverse film stories about the Black experience are either told through small budgeted indie films or shorts, but they continue to go unnoticed by the mainstream movie machine.

Despite the progress that Blacks have made throughout decades in the industry, it has also grown glaringly clear that Tinseltown still has no idea what to do with the Black actress, especially those with darker complexions. It echoes volumes that Viola Davis, one of the most talented working actresses of any decade, who has been mostly regulated to albeit dazzling, small moments on film, is offered a starring vehicle as a maid. I doubt that lighter counterparts Zoe Saldana or Halle Berry would ever be offered such a movie role.

But sadly in much of our cinematic history (with a few exceptions, mostly by way of biopics) it seems the shade of Black women usually includes two hues: the whore and the mammy.Â Unfortunately, those images, the ones that Hollywood seems comfortable seeing us in, are designed to polarize us all; the working actor, the movie-going audience and sisters and brothers of all colors, all while leaving a limiting and damaging stereotypical depiction of us to the world.

Summary: Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), a white socialite in 1960s, segregated Jackson, Mississippi, is an aspiring writer. She has an idea to tell the story of the “colored” help and with the assistance of one maid, Aibileen (Viola Davis), several maids are convinced to spill the beans on their white boss-ladies. Skeeterâ€™s friend, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) is leading a campaign for white households to build a separate bathroom for the help, which causes strife with Skeeter, eventually exposing her secret that she is helping the help.

Review: During Viola Davis’ press tour for The Help, much of her promoting has been defending the controversial film. Some are questioning why a story about Black maids in the ’60s is being told through the lens of a white character and a white writer, an all too familiar pattern in Hollywood. The author, Kathryn Stockett, who penned the best-selling novel (the book has many more redemptive qualities than the film), and Tate Taylor, who directed and adapted the book to film, are the minds behind The Help.Â If they were Black would we see a better film?Â That is a question I cannot answer.Â There is an obvious mishandling of race and class in the movie, but I’ve seen several Black directors commit the same cinematic sins.

Many audiences, especially African-American viewers, are exhausted with seeing Black actresses as maids. It was a role to which many Black actresses were regulated to for decades, and The Help brings back old Hollywood memories that some would rather forget.

Let me put the history of African-Americans in Hollywood off the table for a moment. Regardless of mammy stereotypes, The Help needed some help with its janky, watered-down storyline and its Disneyfied version of the Jim Crow South. Predictably, the movie focuses more on the rich, racist characters versus the heart of the film, the impoverished domestic servants and their untold stories. There should’ve been fewer Southern tea parties and poolside gatherings and more of the gritty realities of being a maid in the ’60s. For a film that is set in pre-civil rights Mississippi, it is too bright and cheery, cheapening the horrific experiences of legalized racism.Â

Then comes Viola Davis, the Aretha Franklin of acting, to save the day. The two-time Tony Award winner can play any character, on the Broadway stage or the big screen. She has the uncanny ability to make every role shine, and her final scene almost rescues the entire film, but not quite. Yes, Davis deserves recognition for her performance, but hopefully she will get the chance to flaunt her superb acting chops in a film as excellent as her.

The underrated Octavia Spencer was gripping as the sassy Minnie. Unfortunately, her character was steeped in stereotypes like, “Frying chicken tends to make you feel better about life.”Â But Spencer found every bit of soul in Minnie.

A small role for Cicely Tyson helped round out great casting. But good acting doesn’t always make a good film.

Getting back to the politics of the film, who knows what the various reactions will be from white and Black audiences. Where I saw the film, a white female was sobbing at an emotional scene. The Black woman next to me sucked her teeth and quietly said, “What? She had a mammy as a child?”

All of that said, I trust the cinematic choices of Viola Davis, she is someone who has respect for the art of movie-making.Â Therefore, me not giving the film an excellent review is not a damnation of Viola Davis or any Black actress who takes a role that she believes is honorable.Â Davis honored this character, shifting the stereotype of “mammy.”

Now that awards season is over, we are hoping for a more diverse and interesting 2011 in the year of film. 2010 didn’t give us much, but we have high hopes for this year. Check out 10 things we want to see in film for 2011.

10. The Aaliyah Movie
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Aaliyah’s passing. So, where is the Aaliyah movie? Last we heard, the director of Dreamgirls, Bill Condon, was set to direct and Canadian actress Keisha Chante would play Aaliyah. Hopefully, we at least get a release date in 2011.

9. No More Horror Movie Remakes
I’d love to go through a year without these horrible horror movie remakes that consistently bomb (Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, etc.). Freddy and Jason need to stay in the ’80s and ’90s. They had their runâ€”let someone else think of a new horror movie plot.

8. Imitation of Life Remake
Now, if someone wants to remake a movie, they should take on Imitation of Life, the classic story about a light-skinned Black girl who tries to pass for white. With a solid cast, this could be award-worthy.

7. A Lady Gaga Movie
Considering her epic music videos, I would love to see Lady Gaga on screen. Not in some silly romantic comedy but more of a Quentin Tarantino/Lee Daniels/Rocky Horror Picture Showâ€“type experience. Bring Gaga to the big screen!

6. I Will Follow by Ava DuVernay
We raved about this film last year, and it was selected as the best movie of 2010 by BET.com.Â The film deals with family, loss, love and life. It’s a tour de force of emotions. The film is getting a release in select cities this Friday. It’s a must-see for 2011!

5. Nicki Minaj Movie
Nicki Minaj went to a New York arts school for theater. So, we would be interested to see what her acting chops are like on the big screen. Maybe a small, supporting role just to get her feet wet, but Minaj in movies is a good look for 2011.

4. Juice DVD Re-Release?2Pac’s classic, Juice is a masterpiece of minimalism on DVD. No special features, no commentary, just an extreme disappointment. Can we get a re-release with deleted scenes, cast interviews, and commentary? Paramount needs to make it happen!

3. More Viola Davis!
I need more Viola Davis! We are looking forward to The Help, her first starring role about a Black maid in the ’60s. According to IMDB.com: “Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, [the fiml is about] a Southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns the town upside-down when she interviews the Black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent Southern families. Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open upâ€”to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit Black community.”

2. Wanda and Sheneneh in Skank RobbersJamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence need to halt all production on all other projects and get this film off the ground. Last we heard, Halle Berry and George Lopez signed on and it got the green light. Ohâ€”and let’s hope they don’t forget Tichina Arnold as Pamâ€”she needs a cameo or a full role. We need a release date for Skank Robbers in 2011!

1. Wesley Snipes Out Of Jail
I’m still confused on why Snipes was jailed for three years on misdemeanor charges, especially after a juror admitted that two other jurors said they thought he was guilty when they “looked” at him. Free Wesley, because I think it’s about time for a Jungle Fever sequelâ€”and Keeping Up With the Kardashians don’t count!

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Finally, a biopic seems to have gotten it right. All of this miscasting in films on icons of history is disappointing. But, this time around Oscar nominee and two-time Tony Award winner, Viola Davis, as legendary political figure Shirley Chisholm is silver screen perfection.

Chisholm was born and raised in New York. She was the first Black woman elected to Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District from 1969 to 1983. In addition, according to Wikipedia, she was the first “major-party black candidate for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.”

Chisholm was vilified in the press during her run for president, which wasÂ examined in the 2005 documentary, Shirley Chisholm ‘72: Unbought and Unbossed, which won a Peabody Award.Â Chisholm passed away in early 2005.

Viola Davis is one of the only actresses who has the depth and the vigor to portray Chisholm on screen.Â According to the New York Daily News, the producers, Bryan Gambogi and Grant Anderson, want Davis but the deal hasn’t been sealed. We hope Davis lands the role — or Angelina Jolie might take it!

Summary: Liz (Julia Roberts) is an underwhelmed, privileged New York City woman. She divorces her husband and decides to find herself via food, traveling and love.

Review: I’m sure you’ve heard the story by now — a woman unsatisfied with the excess of her upper-class life tries to find herself through traveling the world.Â Times are tough for Liz… she needs balance! Manhattan is getting to her! She doesn’t even want a salad for lunch! Oh, the horror!

I’d like to see an Eat, Pray, Love about a single mother in Brooklyn or Queens who is dealing with a tragic economy — how exactly would she find balance? A Greyhound trip to New Jersey? We all could have the option of “finding balance” if we didn’t have the stress of cash flow.

I am sure this will be an obvious complaint — but if people could afford to not work for a year, endlessly travel and never worry about a dime then none of us would have stress in our lives.Â We could all eat, pray and love, spending hours out of the week to meditate. Directed by Ryan Murphy, Eat, Pray, Love drowns in elitism that is eye-rolling; the intentions are good but too fantastical.Â I was waiting for unicorns and fairies to appear (an elephant does walk up to Julia!).

That said, in the beginning, Eat, Pray, Love is enjoyable with its gems of relationship wisdom. This is partly due to the good writing from the book by Elizabeth Gilbert. When the movie goes from narrative to storyline, the heart of the film gets abandoned in the Hollywood glam.

There is the good acting, which is a given.Â Yes, Julia Roberts is still an incredible actress. Then there is the always flawless and Tony Award-winning Viola Davis, who is unfortunately put into the small role of the best friend — again. As Meryl Streep said, “My God, somebody give her a movie!”

Also, the lensing has a cinematic beauty.Â Each frame is shot with detail, showcasing the character’s various travels — this is a better travel commercial than full length movie.

You can’t forget the constant eating. Sure, there is some liberation in Julia Roberts encouraging her friend to eat anything you want, but theÂ repetition made Eat, Pray, Love feel like a preachy food commercial for D’Agostino.

In case you aren’t familiar with the Tonys, it’s an annual awards show that honors excellence in theater. While there are diversity issues with the Academy Awards, the Tonys has always been leagues ahead. Winners for Tonys include James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, Jennifer Holliday, Heather Headley, Phylicia Rashad, Savion Glover, Anika Noni Rose, Pearl Bailey, Lena Horne and countless others.

Last night was no different. Viola Davis won her second Tony for best actress in a play forFences. In addition, Fences picked up two more wins, best revival of a play and Denzel Washington for best actor in a play, which was his first nomination.Â In a teary-eyed speech Davis said, â€śI donâ€™t believe in luck or happenstance. I absolutely believe in the presence of God in my life.â€ť

As reported yesterday, the Broadway musical Fela!received 11 Tony nominations — more than any other musical this year. Oscar winner Denzel Washington and Oscar nominee Viola Davis received Tony nods for their performances in the revival of August Wilson’s Fences.

Davis is no stranger to the Tony Awards.Â While she hasn’t been on the stage for six years, she won for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for 2001’s King Hedley II.

Fences also received a nomination for Best Revival of a Play.

The Tony Awards date back to 1947 and recognize achievements in Broadway productions and regional theater. Other Tony Award winners include Diahann Carroll(1961), Jennifer Holliday (1982) and Heather Headley (2000).

The Tony Awards will air on CBS on Sunday, June 13, 2010 live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.